The Ruins of Solarsal
by PennyForTheGuy
Summary: Shalya of Solarsol, Handmaiden to Queen Azshara. That was her name, she was one of the great Kal'dorei. She saw their very darkest days, but what is left of her?


The Ruins of Solarsal

Shalya walked slowly through the trellised corridor, her hands delicately folded in front of her. More than once her silver eyes glanced out towards the Well of Eternity shimmering in the moonlit night. It seemed a lifetime ago she would have seen only the vast sea from the halls of her family home. The Well of Eternity was the very soul of her people but to Shalya is was a poor substitute for the endless, ever-changing sea.

She bowed her head and quickened her pace slightly, the radiant Queen was irritable of late and she had already snapped at Shalya for not paying attention to her work.

Shalya smiled as she read the latest letter from home. Her family was proud of her, proud that she was selected to be a handmaiden to the beloved heart of the kal'dorei, proud that she had left little Solarsal to serve in Zin'Azshari. She brought the fragile paper to the tip of her nose sniffed. Even traveling across the entire continent hadn't removed the smell of sea salt.

Shalya tucked the letter away in her little box, latching the tiny nautilus shaped lock. She ran her pearl hair brush over her long blue green a few more times. Her appearance had to be absolutely perfect. Handmaidens who did not maintain the highest aesthetic standards at all times were always chastised by the daughter of the moon, often ordered not to appear before her until they made the effort to improve.

She checked her shining adornments, the small silver pins in her hair, the coral necklace at her throat, the delicate silver bands twining around her blue skinned wrists. Everything was in order, and Shalya stood to make her way to the royal dressing room.

The radiant Queen had slapped a handmaiden today, for pulling her white hair to hard as she brushed it. It was the first time Shalya had ever seen the light of lights actually raise her hand against anyone before, but their beloved queen was more stressed than normal of late.

Shalya too was criticized by the matchless beauty. She said she looked 'like she'd just walked out of the tide with all those watery trinkets'. Shalya ran her fingers over her coral necklace once more as she hurried on an errand for Lady Vashj. As much as the beloved Queen and the other handmaiden's seemed to dislike Shalya's attachment to the sea, she decided not to give them until her Queen ordered her to.

As she hurried through the halls of the Eternal Palace she heard several handmaidens whisper; that her marking looked like someone had draped kelp over her face, that she might as well wear barnacles and fishnets instead of silks and jewels.

Shalya listened to none of it. If she had ever been unworthy of her place she would not have been chosen for it, and the radiant Queen would have sent her away the instant she arrived. Shalya finished the errand for the Majordomo with all haste. Lady Vashj said nothing to Shalya as she bowed and left, the closest any handmaiden could get to a compliment from the feline beauty. In spite of the day's setbacks, Shalya was happy.

The Well of Eternity seemed to be reflecting the moods of the daughter of the moon of late. It churned with restless energy as the great Queen fidgeted with sleeve or lashed out at minor transgressions. The mood in the palace itself was more on edge, mages were always moving in and out each one of them concentrated on some mighty project. The lower handmaidens went trough their daily tasks whispering more and more of the changes happened in the heart of Zin'Azshari.

Shalya sought comfort in memories of Solarsal on the sea shore, the sound of waves and gulls and the constant salty breeze whisking over the lush greenery on land. She too wondered what it was that had the Highborne and their beloved ruler so fixated, so agitated but she trusted that whatever the radiant Queen was doing it had to be for the benefit of the Kal'dorei.

Shalya cowered with several other young handmaidens as yet more demons entered the Eternal Palace. They looked on with horror as their radiant Queen, their light of lights, the matchless beauty Azshara welcomed everyone with open arms. Outside Shalya could the crackling roar of the fires and the shrieks and wails of Kal'dorei butchered by Sargeras's Legion.

One of the handmaidens could stand it now more and turned and ran, but she did not get far. She was stopped by a giant Wrathguard, his claws caught on the thin fabric of her dress, rending great holes in it. Acidic drool ran from his deformed mouth at the sight of her pale lavender skin, she struggled desperately to escape his clutches. Azshara looked on with disdain, and nodded to the demon.

"Do as you wish with the treacherous whore."

The some of the other handmaidens tried to grab her hands as she was carried off screaming as loud as the elves dying outside.

"Leave her!" the Queen commanded in her melodious voice.

They dared not defy her, Shalya and the others clung together trying to fathom how radiant Azshara could through her entire race, a race she swore to love and protect, away to these infernal beings.

Despite the dangers surrounding her, despite the constant fear of being thrown to the ever hunger and depraved demons of the palace, the only thing Shalya could really worry about was Solarsal. She continued to serve Azshara, she and the few remaining handmaidens trying harder than ever to please the Queen if only to buy one more day on Azeroth.

Solarsal was far from Zin'Azshari, perched on an island off the western coast but Shalya knew it would only be a matter of time until the Legion's forces reached it once they were done with the resistance in Suramar. Always the images of the sea and sky melding together, the sea birds floating on the salty air, the nets full of fish being pulled in, the sails and masts of boats traveling across the horizon, and the ancient stones of houses and temples dusted with salt and sand filled her minds eye.

Her family would die, the city would be burned, the sea would be no more. No more brightly colored fish flitting through the reefs, no more pearls shimmering in the deep, no more forests of kelp and coral, no more sounds of surf and waves, no more sleek hulled ships skimming the surface, no more simple and quiet lives lived out on its azure shores. No more burying her toes in the sand, no more diving for rare pearls and stones, no more falling asleep to its gentle lullaby.

It was all Shalya could do to keep tears from streaming down her face, she knew that such weakness in the Queen's sight would surely result in her execution.

Azshara was screaming for all of her servants to gather round her as the waters of the Well began to consume the Eternal Palace. Shalya was frozen in place as she watched the imploding Well sunk everything into its vortex. Zin'Azshari and all the other cities on its banks were already obliterated. Shalya watched as the angry waters rose ever higher, she began to feel it lapping at her toes.

For a moment her mind snapped back to a time many years ago, when a young Shalya was running along the sandy beach letting her blue green hair whip about in the wind. She laughed, and yelled at some of the fishermen bringing in the day's catch. She had finally gotten her first pearl out of the mouth of an oyster. She held the creamy pearl in her left hand only untwining her fingers around it to show them.

They all smiled and congratulated her saying it would make a lovely bit of jewelry. Shalya bounced with glee and ran up the shore into town, to her family home. She showed her mother as well; squealing with excitement. Her mother smiled and ran her own blue skinned hand over her daughter's cheek.

The Well's waters lapped at her hips, and Shalya lowered her head. She remembered the day she's left Solarsal for the capital, the day her mother wept and put a coral necklace round her grown daughter's neck. She raised her fingers to that necklace again, and held into it as the palace finally fell into the rising water.

Shalya held her breath and looked around her. In front a great whirlpool was sucking everything into its gullet, behind her other Kal'dorei kicked and struggled trying to reach pockets of air. Shalya calmly swam out of the remains of the balcony she'd been standing on and felt the irresistible tug of the rancorous current. There were other below her, whirling around in the water screaming out bubbles of air.

A light not far off drew her attention, the radiant Queen Azshara too was being pulled out of the palace. Shalya's lungs were beginning to burn but she'd never reach the surface in time. She realized she'd kept her grip on her necklace.

Solarsal was far from the Well, it stood a good chance of surviving. Shalya held the bit of coral even tighter and let her last breath go. The bubbles made their way up to the churning surface and despite her pain Shalya felt like she was being embraced by the water.

She remembered swimming in the bright reefs off shore, coaxing oysters to give up pearls and chasing jewel colored fish through the mazes of coral. She wished was dying there, among those bright; blessed places, breathing the salty air of Solarsal.

Sentinel Nightwind wandered about the abandoned beach, kicking away bits of washed up kelp and driftwood. The ruins where so encrusted with sea salt one could hardly tell they were built by night elves; they looked more like they'd formed from the sea itself. Great columns stood at crooked angles and the little remained wood was quickly being eaten away.

Out to sea the gray shadow of a dying reef loomed, threatening any ship that tried to sail in. Sentinel Nightwind flinched as some falling salt crumbled on the floor of a collapsed pavilion. She calmed her nerves and kept walking, only to nearly trip over something catching her toe. She grumbled and kicked some sand away. A flash of silver caught her eye. She reached down and took up a hand full of sand, shaking it off to find a necklace.

It was a simple thing, a silver chain adorned with several beads of red coral stone. She was surprised it hadn't been found already. As she turned it over she noticed a tiny symbol carved into the back of the largest stone. It was an ancient calligraphic symbol, used in the time of the Well to signify a name or rank. Sentinel Nightwind thought for a moment, then she recognized it.

It said 'Shalya'.


End file.
